Into the Dragon's Den
by Reina Ariadne
Summary: A collection of oneshots, mostly from Hyourinmaru's POV about events in Toushiro's life. Some chapters may be adapted from the manga/anime itself, some may be made up events. Headcanon that Hyourinmaru can materialise himself at will after the events of the Zanpakuto Rebellion. Chapter 1: Hyourinmaru's Return (Bleach ep. 239)


AN: A oneshot series like this one will of course have to begin with the iconic episode of Toushiro vs. Hyourinmaru! I love their dynamics so much, because compared to the other shinigami, it really feels like Hyourinmaru and Toushiro care for each other deeply. This oneshot will be from Hyourinmaru's POV during the episode. Enjoy!

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"_Remember where it is that you belong… Hyourinmaru!"_

And that cry, that voice, filled with the same power and raw potential as it was when it called his name for the first time, cleared the fog in his head at last. After Muramasa robbed him of his memory, all he remembered of his master was a silhouette shrouded in icy mist, moving lips without a face, and a name he did not know.

But finally, _finally_, he knew. This white-haired boy who was gazing at him, eyes fierce and bright as he had always known them to be…

"Master," Hyourinmaru breathed.

At once, their minds connected, and Hyourinmaru sighed in relief as his consciousness settled back into his master's inner world at last. His master's reiatsu released in the same moment, the ice encasing them melting away into powdery snow.

Immediately he surged into dragonshape, relishing in regaining his wings when he had previously been stuck in human form, with no access to the power that came with knowing who he was. He wanted to fly, to soar again in the sky with his master as soon as he could. But first… He bent his head, looking down at the boy suspended in midair, his eyes roving over snow-white hair and closed eyelids.

_Master…_

The boy's hand twitched, almost as if he had heard his thoughts, and opened his eyes. "Do you remember now?" he asked softly. "Now then, I'm no child. My name is Hitsugaya Toushiro…"

He felt his master's consciousness slip away as he threw his head back and roared, his dragon form shattering as he took Toushiro into his arms and descended to the ground. His dragon instinct still itched to fly, keening at being back on the ground again so soon, but Hyourinmaru suppressed it in favour of concern over his master's health. His injuries were grave, he knew, and needed tending to immediately.

The shinigami who he had attacked earlier came running up. Hyourinmaru had sought him out at first, thinking he was his master, before he remembered who he truly belonged to. This man's power was strong, but he lacked the control and finesse that his master possessed.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," he said, and felt sharp satisfaction at being able to remember the shinigami's name. His master did not exactly consider this Kurosaki a friend, but had deep respect for the orange-haired shinigami's power and drive. He bowed his head slightly. "I apologise for hurting you, Kurosaki Ichigo. I was not myself at the time."

"Don't worry about it," Ichigo said, waving a hand in the air like it was nothing. That was another thing his master respected (but did not necessarily agree with) about the teen; he never held grudges, and considered all allies his friends. "How's Toushiro?"

Hyourinmaru looked down at the snowy-haired shinigami, his brow furrowing in concern at the boy's shallow breathing and weak reiatsu. "He hit me with everything he had to help me remember," he intoned, not allowing his voice to betray his worry. "Please allow him to rest for a while."

"He'll be fine. Toushiro's made of stronger stuff than that; I've seen him." Hyourinmaru's gaze snapped to Ichigo – how had he known what he was thinking? Ichigo grinned. "Trust me, he'll be okay. I sensed some disturbances over there just now when you guys were fighting, so I'll go check it out now. The Fourth's barracks are in that direction if you need a place for Toushiro to rest," he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. At Hyourinmaru's acknowledgement, he nodded, waved and took off running in the other direction.

Standing, Hyourinmaru gathered his master into his arms, worry etching itself again onto his face when even the light movement drew a small moan from the boy. He needed to reach the healers' barracks as soon as possible. He could not fly, for he had no hands to carry Toushiro in that form. Hyourinmaru had no choice but to run, even though he knew that his legs could not carry him as swiftly as his wings could.

But for the sake of his master, he would make them become his wings.

/

Nearing the Fourth's barracks, Hyourinmaru wondered what was the best way to approach. He had hidden his reiatsu the entire way there, but to approach suddenly would surely lead to a fight that he could not afford to engage in.

Pausing just before the entrance, Hyourinmaru released his reiatsu all at once, causing some parts of the wall to frost over. He waited a few seconds – making sure that the sound of running footsteps had all but stopped – before he walked into the compound, his master gathered securely in his arms for all to see. Almost immediately he was surrounded by tens of shinigami, but the zanpakuto spirit paid them no heed. Instead, he stopped where he was, gaze locked on the woman with braided hair looking on serenely from the doorway.

"My master is injured," he said gravely, holding Toushiro out towards her. "He requires a healer to attend to his wounds."

The fourth division captain gazed upon him with an understanding look in her eyes. "Follow me, Hyourinmaru-san," she says in a soft voice, turning to enter the fourth division barracks. Hailing the first shinigami that passed them, she bade him to bring a "comfortable chair and a cup of tea" to the room that Captain Hitsugaya was to be placed in, at which Hyourinmaru gave her a questioning look.

"I assume you'll be staying with him until he wakes up, so the least I can do is to make the wait comfortable for you," she replies, a warm smile on her face.

"Thank you for coming back to him."

/

It was a day and a night before his master awoke. In that time, Hinamori Momo and Matsumoto Rangiku had come to visit him, as had the thirteenth division captain Ukitake Juushiro. The latter two Hyourinmaru knew well; Toushiro often expressed irritation at the white-haired captain and his own redheaded vice-captain, but only Hyourinmaru was aware of his master's faith in Matsumoto's unrelenting loyalty and his fondness for Ukitake as a senior and older brother.

Hinamori Momo, on the other hand… In his master's earliest memories, she had been his closest friend and confidante. His protectiveness over her had grown after he enrolled into the Shinigami Academy, and grew even more after he'd become a captain. That need to protect, not just Hinamori but everyone else who was under his division was what fuelled Hyourinmaru's power, and it was a testament to how much he valued the people around him with how strong his master had become.

But after Aizen happened, his master's need to protect Hinamori Momo had grown tenfold, but it came accompanied by a feeling of crushing despair and hatred for the man who had driven his best friend to insanity. It worried Hyourinmaru, but the zanpakuto spirit could understand. After all, dragons never took kindly to one of their own kind being threatened.

And Toushiro was, without a doubt, a dragon. Hyourinmaru recalled the last words his master had said to him. _I'm no child._ Indeed, he wasn't. His master may be young, but Hyourinmaru had never seen him as a child. Fiercely protective, loyal, powerful - all the traits of a true-blooded dragon. In Toushiro's early years in Rukongai, his white hair and turquoise eyes were seen as an anomaly, and was shunned by children and adults alike. But Hyourinmaru knew better. The moment he had laid eyes on his master, even when he had been just a stirring in Toushiro's soul that his master could not yet feel, he instantly recognised the mark of one who was meant to hold a dragon's power in his hands and breathe life into its name. No mere child could have done that.

And it sickened him to think that Muramasa had managed to take that away from him. At first, Muramasa had approached him in Toushiro's inner world to talk him into joining him, but Hyourinmaru would not go. When talking had not worked, he had tried to forcibly pull Hyourinmaru from his master's soul, which led to the dragon burying himself deep in his master's mind, so hidden that even his master could not reach him. Then Muramasa used his last resort - using his powers to wipe Hyourinmaru's memories instead. The zanpakuto spirit emitted a low growl, the temperature in the room dropping as his anger grew. How dare Muramasa do what he did? And how could he, Hyourinmaru, have allowed his master to push himself to such lengths just to recover him? Looking at his master's still form now, he knew that Toushiro would count it as a victory, but to Hyourinmaru, it was he himself who had failed.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a soft groan from the boy before him. Green eyes blinked slowly open, hazy from medication but quickly gaining alertness as he took in his surroundings. Hyourinmaru held himself still as he watched his master pull himself up from the bed with another quiet groan.

"Where am I?" Toushiro asked tiredly, before his senses suddenly registered another person's reiatsu in the room, and his eyes snapped to Hyourinmaru immediately. "You..!" He gasped, his eyes filling with apprehension.

Hyourinmaru sensed his master's uneasiness and made to back away, but stopped when Toushiro doubled over with a groan, waves of pain radiating off him. Without hesitation, Hyourinmaru moved forward, worry overriding his caution. "Do not push yourself," he says seriously. "You put your body through much to get me back."

He saw the tension in Toushiro's shoulders ease at Hyourinmaru's confirmation; that he had succeeded in recovering his zanpakuto's memories. Toushiro turned his head towards the window, the captain's sharp senses already picking out the bursts of reiatsu and sounds of battle in the distance. "What's going on out there?"

Hyourinmaru quickly updated him about Muramasa's movements, feeling his master's alarm at hearing that Muramasa and remaining brainwashed zanpakuto had began a full-out attack. "I see," Toushiro says roughly, pushing away his blankets and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "It is time for me to get out of this bed, then." Hyourinmaru's amusement at his master's predictability - he knew that the tenth division captain's eagerness to return to battle had as much to do with how much he hated being confined in the fourth division as concern for his fellow shinigami - was quickly extinguished when Toushiro stiffened, a pained gasp being ripped from his throat. Hyourinmaru held out a hand placatingly. "Believe in them," he murmurs, causing Toushiro to look up at him in surprise, "this is not enough to kill the shinigami. At least, isn't that what you have proven, master?"

His master's shocked expression melted away into resignation, as he sighed and lay back onto the bed. "I guess you're right," he conceded with a huff, "but I'd still rather be there than here." Hyourinmaru held back an amused smile at the petulant tone in his master's voice. While he would never view Toushiro as a child, his master did occasionally behave like one, something which Hyourinmaru knew better than to say out loud.

The two fell quiet, Toushiro shifting uncomfortably on the hospital bed, and Hyourinmaru's thoughts growing serious once again. "Master…" the zanpakuto spirit eventually said into the silence. Toushiro turned inquisitive eyes onto him.

In one fluid motion, he bowed low on one knee before his master. "I have done something deeply unforgivable. I allowed Muramasa to take my memories, and used my power to attack and harm you, my own master. It may take me some time to regain your trust, but I swear upon my wings that I will never -" A hand on his shoulder stopped him midway through his speech.

"You are forgiven," Toushiro murmured softly. "I do not require any time at all to do that."

Hyourinmaru stared at his master, eyes wide with shock. "You… forgive me?" He had committed a despicable act, by turning his power upon the one whom he had pledged himself to, yet Toushiro still forgave him so readily? "Why?" He asked in disbelief. Did his master not understand what he had done?

Toushiro looked back at him with a steady gaze. "You are my zanpakuto." He says simply. "You are my soul. I am a part of you as much as you are a part of me." He slides off the bed - wincing as he did so - and knelt too, bringing them both to eye level. "That makes us equals. You are my partner, Hyourinmaru, and when I call upon you for your power, I lean on you much more than you lean on me. So don't ask for my forgiveness," he finishes, shaking his head. "You don't need to ask for something that will always be freely given."

It was that exact moment when Hyourinmaru realised that his bond with his master was, indeed, unbreakable. They had gone through a tough trial, and sacrificed some, but it was only more proof that they could survive anything. Hyourinmaru smiled, filled with gratitude and respect for the being who he was fortunate enough to call his master, and bowed his head.

"As you wish, master."

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One of the things I strongly, STRONGLY believe in after watching episode 239 is that Kubo-sensei couldn't find anything about Toushiro for Hyourinmaru to hate, so he had to let Hyourinmaru lose his memories instead! Heh. I love the relationship they have so so much, Toushiro may be Hyourin's master but they look out for each other equally! Updates for this series will be irregular since I'll only be posting as and when inspiration hits me, so please be patient! Leave me a review if you liked it! ^^


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